2 Publications Will Promote City's Downtown

The city's Downtown Improvement District Authority and Allentown businessman Christopher Cross share a common goal -- rejuvenating the heart of the city.

The two also came up with the same approach to achieve that goal. Each has created a publication to inform residents and tourists alike about all the city has to offer in an effort to draw crowds to the area.

The first edition of the DIDA's Downtown Allentown "Good Times," tabloid, created jointly be the DIDA's Retail Committee and the Downtown Cultural Alliance, a committee of organizations with a focus on the Arts, will be available Friday.

A second publication, the Downtown Allentown "Excitement," is being published independently be Christopher Cross, owner of Executive Arts, a graphic design company, and will be available the third week in September.

Locals and visitors can tab through both the "Good Times" and the "Excitement," which are free, to find information on upcoming concerts and special events, and places to shop and eat.

"It's a tourism piece while at the same time serving as a medium for getting out all of the good things about Allentown," said Robin Turner of the DIDA.

Local retailers agree.

"This will be an excellent way to introduce people to our stores," said Rick Salomon, a member of the retail committee and owner of Salomon Jewelers, 606 Hamilton Mall.

The first edition of "Good Times" will be inserted Friday in the Morning Call, which participated in producing it, and 10,000 additional issues will be distributed to more than 70 "What's Hot in Downtown Allentown" rack sites, several area businesses and local hotels where they will be placed in each room, Turner said.

Charles Kalan, executive director of Symphony Hall, said the quarterly tabloid will encourage people to visit downtown.

"Getting them here is the key," Kalan said, adding that once customers have experienced being downtown to attend a show or to shop, it is likely they will return.

Cross said childhood memories of a fast-paced downtown filled with sounds of restless traffic and bustling shoppers, the aroma of peanuts roasting in the Nut Hut, and stops at Whelan's Drug Store for soft ice cream, prompted him to create the "Excitement", a monthly, in hopes of revitalizing the area.

He said he is in touch with several downtown businesses and has observed a lot of discontentment.

"I see parts of the downtown area falling apart," Cross said. "A lot of businesses have talked about moving out."

Cross said he wants to prove the city is an exciting place with a diverse menu of events, shops and activities to offer.

"I want to see people start to view the downtown area as an attractive exciting place to go," he said. "I want to see the area flourish."

Tony Ianelli, executive director of the DIDA, said "Good Times," which cost about $10,000 for the first edition, is an idea the DIDA has been trying to develop for several years.